GT Solar Opens New Asia Headquarters in Hong Kong

Company Also Announces Upgrade to its Line of DSS Ingot Growth Furnaces

MERRIMACK, N.H., Oct 11, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR), a global provider of
polysilicon production technology, and sapphire and silicon crystalline
growth systems and materials for the solar, LED and other specialty
markets, today announced that it has opened its new Asia operations
headquarters in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong headquarters better serves the
needs of its customers throughout the Asia Pacific region.

"Over eighty-five percent of our business now comes from Asia,
particularly from China where most of our customers are located," said
Tom Gutierrez, president and CEO of GT Solar. "Our Asia headquarters is
the next logical step in developing the most appropriate business model
to support our growing customer base in the region. By focusing the
operations of our business in Hong Kong, we will be more responsive to
our local customers and continue to provide the high quality products
and high levels of support they have come to expect from GT Solar."

"Hong Kong is the ideal place to locate our Asia headquarters," said
Jeff Ford, managing director for GT Solar Hong Kong, Limited. "It offers
a favorable business climate with a deep pool of talent that we have
already taken advantage of to build a world-class team of experienced
professionals to lead our business. Our local team includes sales,
business development, service, supply chain, logistics, and quality
assurance. Expanding these business functions directly in the region
allows us to compete more effectively in the fast-growing solar market."

GT Solar has been doing business in Asia since 2002. Since then the
company has played an important role as an equipment provider, to
helping the region's early adopters establish their PV and polysilicon
manufacturing operations. Today, many of these companies have grown to
become some of the region's largest solar manufacturers in China, Korea,
and Taiwan, and are using GT Solar products and technologies to improve
productivity and lower their cost of manufacturing.

In September of 2009, the company opened its facility in Shanghai, China
to provide greater service and support to its growing customer base in
the region. The Shanghai facility will continue to provide installation
resources, demonstration capabilities for customers wishing to test new
process recipes, product training and spare parts inventory. PV
equipment product development, engineering and R&D will remain in the
company's corporate headquarters in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and
product development, engineering and R&D for its polysilicon equipment
will remain in Missoula, Montana.

GT Solar also announced today that its next DSS crystalline growth
furnace, the DSS650, has begun beta production evaluation with
customers. The new system provides an upgrade path for current customers
using DSS 240, DSS450 and DSS450HP systems in their production
environments. The DSS650 is capable of producing ingots larger than 600
kilograms and is compatible with the chamber configuration of current
DSS systems. Commercial availability of the new system is expected for
early calendar year 2011.

"The DSS650 continues our commitment to customers to lower their
manufacturing costs by leveraging their investment in our crystalline
growth furnaces to take advantage of new technology," continued
Gutierrez. "We designed the new DSS650 system so current customers can
easily upgrade to the new system, which underscores our commitment to
protecting our customers' investment in GT Solar DSS equipment."

With over 1,700 systems in the field, GT Solar's DSS ingot growth
furnaces are widely used in PV wafering operations. GT Solar's
innovation and expertise in mechanical design, vacuum and high-pressure
chambers, control system design, and crystal growth modeling, provide
customers with a technologically advanced directional solidification
furnace that consistently produces high quality ingots with optimized
mass ingot yield.

About GT Solar International, Inc.

GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR), is a global provider of
polysilicon production technology, and sapphire and silicon crystalline
growth systems and materials for the solar, LED and other specialty
markets. The company's products and services allow its customers to
optimize their manufacturing environments and lower their cost of
ownership. For additional information about GT Solar, please visit www.gtsolar.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in this press release, including statements
relating to the timing and performance of new crystalline growth
systems, are forward-looking in nature. These statements are based on
management's current expectations or beliefs.These
forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are
subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which
are outside the Company's control, which could cause actual events to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements.Factors
that may cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed
or implied by our forward-looking statements include the possibility
that the Company is unable to recognize revenue on customer contracts,
that technological changes could render existing products or
technologies obsolete, the Company may be unable to protect its
intellectual property rights, competition from other manufacturers may
increase, exchange rate fluctuations and conditions in the credit
markets and economy may reduce demand for the Company's products and
various other risks as outlined in GT Solar International, Inc.'s
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the
statements under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual
report on Form 10-K for the fiscal 2010 filed on June 4, 2010 and
quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the first fiscal quarter filed on
August 6, 2010. GT Solar International, Inc. is under no obligation to,
and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events, or otherwise.